Human capital development from Islamic knowledge management perspective

In the environment of globalization and information boom, the concept of human capital development (HCD) represents the primary concerns of parents, educators, scholars, and leaders. Although the idea is somehow complicated and regarded as very much personal, due to its intangibility embodied within self-functionality and reactivity. In fact, there is no definite answer to the question of how it takes place? For instance, physical capital is a form of material development and applied predominantly in production. While human capital is intangible within the individual acts, conducts and behaviors. In this direction, the purpose of the paper is to develop a hierarchical structure of knowledge management (KM) and Islamic knowledge management (IKM) that aims strategically functioning in developing human capital (HC). The data of this study collected through a brief and random literature review for the purposes of comparison and analysis. The focus was more toward identifying aspects of the relationship values of knowledge, KM, and IKM to the processes of HCD. From the essence of this study, HCD was viewed as essential strategic planning not only to an organizational productivity, but also to an individual personal achievement and societal stability. In other words, the implications of this study covered various statuses of knowledge users

Seed characteristics and germination properties of four

Introduction. Seeds from Garcinia species are recalcitrant, which do not survive dessication and cold temperature. This poses a significant challenge for their long-term preservation, and hence more research is needed to understand the biology of such seeds. Materials and methods. Seeds from three under-investigated Garcinia species, namely G. atroviridis, G. hombroniana and G. prainiana, as well as the economically important mangosteen (G. mangostana), were studied using histochemical tests and microscopy techniques as well as moisture content and germination tests. Results and discussion. The seeds of these species varied in shape and size. G. hombroniana seeds were the largest, while those of G. prainiana were the smallest. Furthermore, during a period of desiccation, larger seeds (G. hambroniana and G. mangostana) retained their moisture content longer than the smaller seeds (G. atroviridis and G. prainiana). Consequently, species with larger seeds seemed to maintain a higher germination percentage compared with the species with smaller seeds. Moreover, G. prainiana seeds had the thickest testa, which perhaps underlay their significantly delayed germination time. Large amounts of lipid and calcium oxalate were also observed in all four Garcinia species, which may have a role in food storage and herbivore protection, respectively. During germination, all species had radicles and shoots emerged from two opposite ends, conforming to the Garcinia-type germination. The procambial tissues also increased in length during germination towards the ends where the radicle and plumule emerged. Conclusion. This study successfully characterised the seeds from four different Garcinia species, some of which are not yet reported elsewhere

The effectiveness of a structured nursing intervention program on maternal stress and ability among mothers of premature infants in a neonatal intensive care unit

Aims and objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of a structured nursing intervention program on maternal stress and NICU-related maternal ability after the admission of premature infants to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Background: Mothers of premature infants may face stress having premature infants, and their infants may be admitted to the NICU for a few weeks or months. The mothers’ experience of stress would be worse if they have low knowledge and poor NICU-related maternal ability. Mothers of infants admitted to the NICU require well-planned interventions to cope with psychological matters arising after an infant hospitalisation. Design: Quasi-experimental design. Methods: A total of 216 mothers were consecutively assigned to control and intervention groups. Each group consisted of 108 mothers. The mothers in both groups received questionnaire concerning maternal stress and NICU-related ability during their first visit to NICU (within 48 hr of admission). A structured nursing intervention was implemented for 10 days on mothers in the intervention group. The control group continued to receive existing practice nursing care. Mothers of both groups were again given the questionnaire on maternal stress and NICU-related ability after 14 days of admission. Results: In the intervention group, the difference between the mean total score of maternal stress and parental role and relationship subscale decreased significantly, compared to the control group (p = 0.04; p = 0.01) respectively. Maternal ability improved significantly in mothers in the intervention group 2 weeks postintervention, p < 0.001. Conclusion: A structured nursing intervention for mothers could significantly reduce maternal stress and promote maternal NICU-related abilities. Relevance to clinical practice: The results of the study could help neonatal nurses to develop an appropriate nursing intervention for parents with premature infants in the NICU. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Lt

Chemical and pharmacognostical characterization of two Malaysian plants both known as Ajisamat

Ajisamat, an herb commonly used as an aphrodisiac in the Malaysian traditional medicine, corresponds to two different species from different families - Salacia macrophylla Blume, Celastraceae, and Prismatomeris glabra (Korth.) Valeton, Rubiaceae. Macromorphological inspection of the vegetative parts both plants reveals only a slight difference in the arrangement of the petioles. Microscopic investigation of the plants roots used as crude drugs revealed however distinctive anatomical features. Prismatic calcium oxalate crystals and banded paratracheal parenchyma are characteristics of S. macrophylla while P. glabra displays an abundance as crystals. Other features such as vessels diameters and arrangements are also of diagnostic importance. Some of these characters were also identified in the powder of thes e plant materials and proposed for diagnostic purpose. The values for extraction of ethanol and water as well as total ash, acid-insoluble ash, water-soluble ash and sulfated ash were determined for both plants. Phytochemical studies were carried out on hexane and chloroform extracts of S. macrophylla and methanolic extract of P. glabra. S. macrophylla was shown to contain highly oxidized pentacyclic triterpenes while P. glabra contains anthraquinones. The pharmacognostical and phytochemical information can be utilised as the identification tools for Salacia macrophylla and Prismatomeris glabra Keywords: Ajisamat, Salacia macrophylla, Prismatomeris glabra, Pharmacognostic features, Anthraquinones, Oxidized triterpene

Differential Protein Expression Patterns of HOXA13 and HOXB13 Are Associated with Bladder Cancer Progression

Bladder cancer is a common urological cancer and has the highest recurrence rate of any cancer. The aim of our study was to profile and characterize the protein expression of homeobox A13 (HOXA13) and homeobox B13 (HOXB13) genes in Malaysian bladder cancer patients. The protein expression of HOXA13 and HOXB13 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) bladder cancer tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. The association between HOXA13/HOXB13 protein expression and demographic/clinicopathological characteristics of the bladder cancer patients was determined by chi-square analysis. Approximately 63.6% of the bladder cancer tissues harbored high HOXA13 expression. High HOXA13 expression was significantly associated with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, lower tumor grade, higher number of lymph node metastases, and recurrence risk. In contrast, low HOXB13 expression (including those with negative expression) was observed in 71.6% of the bladder cancer tissues analyzed. Low HOXB13 expression was significantly associated with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, higher tumor stage, tumor grade, and metastatic risk. Both HOXA13 and HOXB13 protein expression were found to be associated with bladder tumorigenesis. The putative oncogenic and tumor suppressive roles of HOXA13 and HOXB13, respectively, suggest their potential utility as biomarkers in bladder cancer